Six Ways to Sunday
by intuitions
Summary: Welcome to Ash Academy: beware the homicidal xatu, the slowpoke tails, the team recruiting, the impending Second Great War, the haunted bubble wrap, and especially the students who are going through all your typical ups and downs of life. That's six, right? Mazel tov.
1. The End

**Six Ways to Sunday**

no seriously. it's an actual saying.

* * *

_remember when the monsters under your bed weren't real and the skeletons in people's closets weren't piled so high?  
__good times._

* * *

**[ chapter 0; the end ]**

The gates open.

This time, it's a forest, tall trees and tall grass, artificial sunlight that only lights up some of the ground because the leaves obscure the rest.

"A, stay in the trees, B, on the defensive, C, in the sky, D, with me," our captain calls out.

His commands are executed fluidly. The A squad leader swings herself up into the highest tree branches effortlessly, and the rest of her team follows. A few of them let out their smaller pokemon; the squad leader's emolga sails through the air, silent and hidden by the foliage.

Squad B splits off into groups of three, each group sending a ground type underground at intervals surrounding the flag. I can see twins on squad B release a tag team of a cloyster and a kecleon, the kecleon creating an invisible field around itself and the cloyster, and the third member in their group lets loose an umbreon. Then they disappear out of my line of sight.

Everyone in squad C is paired off. My ex's best friend helps my ex onto his charizard, while my ex unleashes that demon of a marshtomp. The other pairs are all setting up similar framework.

Our captain is also the D squad leader. We follow him into the forest. Those of us that have hound pokemon let them out of their pokeballs. My houndoom, Jack, nuzzles my hand, a brief gesture of affection, before becoming aware of where we are and instinctively pitching his ears forward, entire body wired and alert. Our captain releases his arcanine. All six feet and three hundred fifty pounds of him. Even if he tried, he couldn't manage to be anything but noticeable.

"Yo, squirrel, you lookin' to get us caught?" Cory mocks jokingly. Of course, we were all thinking it, but only he's irritating enough and close enough to our captain that he won't get verbally abused too badly for asking.

Sure enough our captain just flips him off half-heartedly. "Hey watch yourself you rank-diver. We're gonna do this trojan horse style. Split up, half with me, we're gonna be the distraction. Cory, since you're so vocal today, you take lead for the other group, go around and hunt for the flag. And for Arceus's sake, be quiet. We can only distract them if they can't hear you running your mouth all the time."

He nods his head towards the path that runs parallel to a stream; the running water should cover most of the noise we do make. Our squad splits in two easily. We've had to split before and it's always best to remember any formations you run so you don't have to waste time figuring things out again.

Cory takes us down to walk close to the stream banks, and our shoes make a quiet, disgusting noise as we step across a particularly muddy patch. "This is fuckin' dirty, mate," he hisses, only half pretending to complain. You can tell he's at least somewhat serious because he's slipped into his native accent and slang.

"Coincidentally, that's what your girlfriend and I did last night," our captain retorts, and a soft 'oooh' rises from our group. No one laughs though; if this were a normal match we would, but not today. Adrenaline has numbed us to our situation for now, but it does nothing to lighten our mood.

Smirking faintly, Cory just shakes his head and leads us deeper into the opposing team's territory.

The plan runs smoothly at first. But the chaos breaks out when we get ambushed by a Rachel and Leon's audino-gardevoir pair. The gardevoir's eyes glow for a moment as it tells everyone within its range of communication where we are.

It harasses the dark-types that we send out with a couple Focus Blasts. Then my houndoom's well-placed Dark Pulse takes it out and it disappears in a flash of red energy.

We move quickly now, speed being our priority instead of stealth.

An Ice Beam from the sky starts to form a frozen circle wall around us, only to be cut off by a ThunderBolt from the trees. We hear a bird squawk in pain and a crash as it tumbles down into the trees.

I stay to unfreeze the legs of some of my teammates, who were caught in the blast, while Cory leads a few to move ahead. While Jack's occupied, I release Annie and Monty as protection. Annie cackles maniacally as she sets up a Substitute, and Monty doesn't even need me to ask him to use Coil.

Sure enough, our opponents find us. I can see Duke and Owen and Mel at the front of the oncoming wave. Up in the sky, I recognize James's shiny braviary.

We do what we can to hold them off. Annie pisses people off by Disabling moves from beneath her Substitute armor, and Monty fires Gunk Shots at an alarming pace. Two of my teammates' pokemon, a flareon and a rapidash, are taken out by a particularly nasty Water Pulse.

Above head James's braviary is screeching, presumably insults, at a frustrated froslass in a tree who can't seem to pin its wings with its Ice Beam.

Then the alarm sounds. Our Entei Army banner is projected on the ceiling dome of the arena. Cory's gotten the flag back to our side. Jack leans tiredly against Owen's electivire, the very pokemon he's been trying to scorch for the past twenty minutes, and rather successfully, if its blackened fur tips are anything to go by.

We start to recall our pokemon. There's not a lot we have to say to each other.

In fact, it's really just a nod, and a "good game". The anticipation of the words "good bye" is there, too, but no one on either team can force those words out. Good bye means finality - forever - and even if it's the most likely result, neither of us wants this to be our reality.

I'm so angry. So angry that needs to be a winner and a loser. So angry that, in the end, the winner is the real loser because winning means you've graduated onto battling for real, in the real world, where the stake is your life, not just points for your ranking, and that the losing team gets to live with the guilt that they were actually relieved because it _wasn't them_.

We're high up, in the Headmaster's quarters, being congratulated on our victory and also informed on what comes next for us. I'm not listening; none of us are. Instead, I'm looking out the giant one-way mirror that is the Headmaster's window, the one that his creepy xatu stares out 24/7.

There are new students, arriving in staggered bunches at the academy gates. I remember my first teleport - the gardevoir's name was Mae.

For a moment my eyes flick up to look at our team captain. His gaze is heavy; nineteen is too young to be carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. There's a look of anguish on his face as he watches the new students. I know what he's thinking.

How many more?

How many more will they deceive? How much longer can this be kept a secret? How many more lives will they ruin?

"And just remember, all of Hoenn thanks you for fighting on behalf of your country!" the Headmaster finishes. Cory laughs in scorn. Then the xatu's eyes flash and the laugh stops abruptly as he grits his teeth in pain at the violent mental assault.

"It is the end of your life here, and the beginning of the rest of your lives. You will be given time to say your good byes."

* * *

**so this is a pokemon academy fic, but the academy borrows some of the structure from ender's game, and neither of those 'verses belong to me**

**r&r~**


	2. Fruity Like Pebbles

**Six Ways to Sunday**

no seriously. it's an actual saying.

* * *

_I think whenever people are put in a new environment, it's their natural instinct to immediately look for others to band together with. Maybe that's why we're so judgmental; it helps us pick our allies as quickly as possible, before anyone else can._

* * *

**[ 1: fruity like pebbles ]**

"Like the colors in autumn so bright, just before they loooooose it all!"

_Ahhh, nothing like hearing your brother belt Taylor Swift lyrics to make you question his gender._

"Shut up, Kenz," Brett called as his little sister walked into the kitchen.

Kenzie headed for the cereal pantry, and then stopped, lifting an eyebrow. "I didn't even say anything!"

Brett smirked in the way that their mom always said reminded her of their dad. Really, anything he did reminded their mom of their dad. "Yeah but I could hear you thinking it."

The sound of her laugh mingled with the tinny sounds of Fruity Pebbles being poured into a ceramic bowl. "Do you really want that to be that last thing you say to me before I go?"

"Hey! That's my cereal!"

"No, I don't think those are fitting last words either," she chuckled, but acquiesced and set aside a handful of Fruity Pebbles for him on a napkin.

Sliding into the seat next to her he started to eat, satisfied with the victory, then noticed they were all the same color.

"Discrimination against the purples again, I see."

He threw one at her and she wrinkled her nose as it bounced off her shoulder. "Stop, I hate grape."

"You like grapes," he pointed out.

"...it's different."

"You're such a freak."

"Ohmygod, you were the one singing Taylor Swift. _And_ you're eating Fruity Pebbles."

"So?"

"You are what you eat."

"You're a pain in the ass. What kind of fruit is that?"

"Keep calling me names and we'll see how hard your friends laugh when they hear your pokeGear play "I'm a Barbie Girl" every time someone calls you."

"I'll sic Penny on you."

"Don't you fu-"

"Kenzie Aislinn Garrett, I hope you weren't planning to finish that word."

The two siblings turned around sharply to see their mom leaning against the arch that led into the kitchen. Hopping up and down next to her was a larvaesta, the aforementioned, horrifying, Penny. Kenzie glared at the squishy brown thing.

"Your bug is mocking me again!" she complained, shuddering. "Can't you get it a leash or something?"

Brett pretended to sniff haughtily and said, "Excuse you, Penny is a _lady_," which earned him a coo from Penny as she skittered across the floor to rub her long white mane on his leg.

"This is why you don't have a human girlfriend," Kenzie told him. Penny turned her head and gave the brunette girl a dirty look. Shuddering, she added, "She wants to eat me. She's gonna crawl all over me at night and lay eggs in my ears."

Penny squeaked. Kenzie could've sworn she was agreeing with her.

"Honey, that's ridiculous. Penny doesn't even have a mouth," her mother said breezily. Before Kenzie could protest, she snagged a few Fruity Pebbles.

_Dammit, she got an orange one..._

"Whatever. Wait until after I get my Pokemon." The brunette crossed her arms and gave Penny her most menacing glare. Penny glared back. The bug won. Sighing, Kenzie leaned back in her chair and watched the sun light up the little particles of dust in the air. "And ... just don't hate me, okay?"

She stared at her brother with a pensive look that seemed out of place on her face. For a moment, Brett didn't say anything, and she knew that she'd been right; those little quips he'd been making ever since she got the holo-letter two weeks ago had been more than just teasing. He was jealous, that she'd been picked, and that he hadn't. For the record, she didn't know why she'd been either - he was more athletic, more suited to a battling academy than she was - and the attention it got her had made her last few days of school uncomfortable.

When he hadn't said anything for what seemed like ages, she cringed. He was always competitive, from sports to who-can-get-to-the-TV-remote-first; maybe it was unforgivable that she beat him at something. But then he gave her his trademark smirk and said "Can't promise that, you're kind of obnoxious," and she let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Well, it's not like I like you either," she grumbled, finishing the last of her Fruity Pebbles.

Her bag was sitting at the bottom of the steps, a simple blue duffel that carried only her most cherished possessions. She'd just picked it up when her mom and Brett sandwiched her in a hug.

"I swear to Arceus, if Penny tries to hug me too I'm going to squish her, and then you're going to have to find yourself a new girlfriend _and_ get me a new pair of shoes," she mumbled against the fabric of Brett's shirt.

She was never all that good with goodbyes.

**-thisisasongthatgetsoneverybody'snervesbutit'sokay thistimebecausei'monlysingingitonce-**

The teleport to Ash Island was done by a creepy xatu. It was like one of those soldiers that guarded the Indigo League gates, the ones that checked for badges, and never smiled. Only, it was creepier because Kenzie could hear it laughing inside her head when she tripped over her own flip flops.

_He totally tripped her on purpose with his weird psychic-ness._

The actual teleport was an uncomfortable experience too. There was a moment where she felt like she was everywhere and nowhere. And when she landed, she felt a sudden compulsion to eat one of the dandelions that grew abundant in the field they'd landed in. Then she heard the xatu snicker again and when she whirled around to curse at it, the desire left.

_Aren't dandelions poisonous? _she wondered, eyeing the bird with mounting suspicion.

It - _he_ - cackled in her head. _Oh don't be a baby._

_You might be crazy,_ she commented.

He nodded and quipped, _Sometimes I hear voices inside my head._

Then he was gone, before she could reach out her foot to kick him.

Kenzie flipped open her pokeGear, and a blue holographic screen projected itself into the air right above it. But her map app's 3D model of Kanto didn't include Ash Island.

When she looked around there were more ripples in the air, a telltale sign, she realized, of teleportation. They spat out more kids, some her age, some older; the returners. The returners seemed to know each other and they grouped together, while the rest of them looked around uncomfortably.

One of the returners finally broke away from their pack long enough to give the first years a smile.

_She wasn't so bad_, Kenzie thought.

"Hey, we didn't look so sad and lost in our first years, did we?" she chuckled when she turned back to her friends.

_Bitch._

Eventually the returners had gotten caught up with each others' lives and headed towards Ash Academy. Kenzie followed them, because she had no idea where she was going, and it didn't look like any of the other first years did either. It made her think of the bus she took with her mom once. Only the bus driver knew how to get anywhere. Everyone else just kind of tagged along.

_That would be the perfect job for a kidnapper_, she mused idly. _T__hey could really drive anywhere and we wouldn't even know we were being kidnapped until they make us wear black bags over our heads and smuggle us into Johto or something._

And then, _stay out of my head you psychotic bird_._  
_

She heard a chuckle.

"So I had Fruity Pebbles for breakfast this morning!" one of the first years said randomly.

_Oh me too!_

"My favorites are the grape ones but the yellow ones aren't bad either."

_We could never be friends._

Now that she thought about it, it was kind of a weird thing for someone to just announce their breakfast preferences. She snuck a glance at the person who'd spoken. It was a slender girl carrying a duffel bag with the faces of the hottest boy band in Kanto printed on it, but the most noticeable thing about her was her bright red hair, pulled into a high ponytail.

_Even if you are a dying race._

The redhead also seemed oblivious to the awkward looks she was getting from everyone around her.

It seemed like a good time to observe the people who were going to be her classmates and competition, so that's what she did.

There was a silver-blonde boy, looking reserved and aloof with earbuds in his ears. Kenzie tried to imagine what he was thinking. Maybe something along the lines of _why can't I turn the volume higher,_ or "_comin' out of my cage and I've been doing just fine"_, if he was the kind of guy who secretly liked to sing along. It could be either.

An aristocratic-looking Asian girl kept alternating between looking at her book and her freshly French manicured hands that were holding said book. She was probably "_if you spent your life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you really" - oh gosh, Marco really did a great job._

A boy with shockingly green eyes caught her glancing over at him and rolled his hips towards her with a suggestive wink. Kenzie rolled her eyes and tried not to think about where his mind was. _Sexsexsexsex - what?_

The sign off in the distance put a halt to her people-watching. Big, silver-plated letters gleamed in the midday light.

**Ash Academy  
_Victore_ _facto_.  
**est. 2030

_Shinyyyyy_, purred the xatu. Then he promptly filled her mind with the desire to go and see if the metal tasted as good as it looked.

* * *

**random note of the day;; **nineteen minutes by jodi picoult is such a good book._  
_


	3. Nuts are for Squirrels

**Six Ways to Sunday**

no seriously. it's an actual saying.

* * *

_Ash Academy: established after the Great Twenty Years War. Founded by the famous Ash Ketchum, critics originally considered it a knee-jerk reaction as people realized that they needed more able and ready trainers capable of protecting their country (see_ Great Wenty Years War). _However it soon proved itself to be a battling academy of unprecedented calibre and cutting edge technology. Today, it only accepts Trainers that it invites. Invitations are never extended to anyone from the Unova region, one of the major regions that allied itself against Kanto. It does invite students from Johto, to maintain diplomatic relations, though, as well as those from Hoenn (see _Great Twenty Years War).  
**-** Overview of Ash Academy,** Encyclopedia app, pokeGear.**

* * *

**[ 2: nuts are for squirrels ]**

The Headmaster of Ash Academy was apparently a bit of a head case, her mother and the newspapers warned, but no one could deny the results of his work. Alumni during his time as Headmaster included the current Master Champion - the fact that the Kanto Champion was the winner of the most recent Champions Tournament, which pit the winners of all five League Conferences against each other, was a great source of pride for Kanto natives.

Especially because Kanto and Johto were still mad at each other, according to her mom, and Johto had been favored to win. Something about drug trade and funding Team Rocket's activities. She'd asked what drugs they were smuggling in, and her mom said it was slowpoke tail. Apparently it didn't just have medicinal benefits.

The idea of it made Kenzie think of people carrying lots of long pink body parts onto a boat. How would you even use that? She imagined a group of men in black sitting on the deck trying to smoke said body parts.

_People would have a lot of questions._

But anyways, finishing off their accolades, there were plenty of other powerful graduates who didn't want to be tied down by a position, or who chose to enter different fields, like the Silph Co. vice president.

When Kenzie finally pulled herself out of her thoughts, the academy campus was in view.

There were already students lounging on the grass, with a paved, circular walkway and a statue of Arceus in the very center.

One of the returners spotted something and called out, "Hey! Cole and Nate are at it again!"

_Who are Cole and Nate?_

"They're the top Third Years in the academy," a voice said behind her.

Kenzie yelped; it was like everyone was reading her mind today.

"Are you a psychic?" she asked dubiously.

The dark brown-haired boy made an amused noise at the back of his throat. "You were talking out loud."

"Oh."

That was comforting. She already had one psychotic xatu who'd decided that he wanted to write down 'Kenzie Garrett's mind' as his 'place of residence' on any future job applications, and her brother and his creepy bug, so she was pretty sure another person would make the place too crowded.

She imagined what a room would look like if the xatu, Brett, and this new guy were all living together.

_You'd be the worst tenant_, she muttered at the xatu. _You'd probably leave birdseed everywhere._

_I don't eat birdseed_, the xatu cackled deviously.

_Really? What do you eat?_

For a minute he was silent. Then, a vivid image of stiff honey-coated rattata on a plate bloomed in her mind.

_You're a creep._

He hummed in agreement. Then, she felt him leave her mind, on his way to harass someone else.

"Hey? You still there?"

Kenzie's gaze snapped back into focus. "Huh? Sorry, I spaced out."

The boy grinned. "I noticed. You said something about birdseed. And rattata. Kinda makes me wonder what you were daydreaming about."

She blushed. "It was nothing. I just don't have a filter at all."

"Ha, nice. But anyways, I was saying, you should come watch their match? It's always really good for new students to see what Ash Academy is like."

"Okay."

He was cute, she noted subconsciously as he led her to an open grassy area, where people were starting to crowd around. He was fit and toned - everyone at Ash Academy looked like they were - and his hair was left shaggy, but not long enough to obscure his warm hazel eyes.

"Heads up!"

A rush of hot, flickering fire brushed past her just as she sidestepped.

"Well, I know who I'm inviting whenever I have a barbecue," she exhaled slowly, poking a red spot on her arm where a wayward ember had grazed her.

The boy - Luke, as he had introduced himself - gave her a sort of exasperated look. "I don't think we have any cannibals here to go to that barbecue."

Kenzie made a face. "You know what I mean."

"You should really spend more time outside of your head," he told her, frowning as he scrutinized the small inflamed bit of skin.

She'd already decided that it didn't hurt, or look bad enough, to need to go looking for someone who could give her burn cream right away, so she ignored his scrutinizing gaze. "But my head is so interesting. Seriously. A xatu lives in it."

Luke stared at her for a moment, and then laughed.

"You think I'm kidding," she said.

He shook his head, still grinning, and explained, "We all get warned about Enzo. The xatu's crazy and probably homicidal, right?" and when Kenzie nodded he finished, "Yeah, then you've met Enzo."

"I would be crazy too if my mom named me Enzo..." she mused. "But then, I would also have to be a boy, or she would have to be high like a kite."

Luke laughed again. "Watch the match, and stay out of your psychopath-magnet mind."

She started wonder about a giant magnet and psychopaths that were futilely trying to run in the opposite direction - _that would be _such _a great way to catch psychopaths _- but Luke seemed to realize that she was drifting and snapped the hair tie that around her wrist. After an embarrassing squeak of surprise she glared at him as she moved her hair tie to the other wrist but focused her attention on the battle.

It was a houndoom against a vaporeon. The houndoom was fast as hell, evading the blue eeveelution's Shadow Balls with unnerving ease.

"Ice Beam," called out one of the guys, chestnut-haired with brown eyes so light that they could probably be called amber.

"Isn't ice not effective against fire?" Kenzie asked. The other observing First Years were murmuring the same thing to each other.

_Though, ice was nice to skate on._

The idea of a houndoom in ice skates made her grin. _Silly houndoom, skates are for kids._

And then it hit her, and she tried to articulate it. "Wait, the feet, he's moving and - the ground!"

The look Luke gave her this time was astute and contemplative; impressed, even. It was kind of a nice feeling, to be taken seriously. "Quick thinking, squirrel. Keep that up and you might get recruited to a half-way decent team. Lesson one: if your opponent has an advantage you don't like, do what you can to get rid of that advantage. And lesson two: your goal should be to get your pokemon to be able to think creatively as well. See? Nate didn't have to tell his vaporeon to aim for the feet, because he trusted that she would be able to figure it out. That way, you won't give your strategy away."

Kenzie nodded eagerly, filing the advice away for later, and then frowned. "Why'd you call me a squirrel?"

He still seemed to be lost in _his_ thoughts, for a change, so there was a pause before he turned his gaze back to her and smirked. "It's a long story. But basically, the Headmaster banned us older years from calling the First Years 'newbies' because of some incident, and someone came up with the idea of calling you all squirrels instead."

"Why?"

"Because you all like our nuts."

"Oh come _on_!"

"What do you want me to come on?"

"-! Arceus, you're just full of class, aren't you."

"Don't blame me, you walked right into both of those."

Kenzie's initial scarlet, indignant glare dissolved as she laughed along with Luke. Just so he knew he wasn't totally forgiven though, she kicked him halfheartedly. It only made him laugh harder.

They turned back to the battle, where the vaporeon had succeeded in not only freezing a good portion of the grass, but also one of the houndoom's hind paws. It stumbled often now, whereas the vaporeon was all mermaid grace. The houndoom was wet, too, the smell of wet dog starting to waft, so it must've been hit by at least one Surf attack.

"Sunny Day," the other guy ordered. His relatively short blonde locks were pushed back at the front, away from his blue eyes.

The houndoom seemed to give off light for a moment, and then there was an artificial, sunny brightness that lit up the entire area. The ice began to melt, and the demonic dog's fur began to dry. The houndoom didn't seem exhausted. Instead, it actually looked kind of pissed.

_Maybe it was pissed that its fur had gotten wet. I would be, too. If I had fur_, Kenzie amended.

"Well, you still look lovely," she said absently, a little louder than she'd intended.

Luke choked on his laugh, but the houndoom seemed to appreciate the compliment and preened for a moment.

"Cerb! You can show off later," his trainer teased.

Cerb gave his trainer a dirty look but pitched his ears backwards to show that he was listening.

"SolarBeam."

The green energy only took a brief second to gather at the houndoom's open maw before it cut through the air, towards the vaporeon. It tried to dodge but the interruption had thrown it off guard, and its reaction time was slow.

"Defensive Aqua Ring-Surf combo!"

She had a split second to see it before the SolarBeam collided with its mark, but she saw it. The vaporeon's eyes flashed blue as it hastily surrounded itself with rotating rings of water. Its Surf attack was carried by the existing rings, rotating along with them to form a more solid barrier against the SolarBeam.

"Wow," she breathed in awe.

"Welcome to Ash Academy," Luke said, smiling broadly.

Everyone watched the smoke clear anxiously. When it finally did, it revealed a tired and drenched houndoom, who'd been hit by the resulting spray of water as its SolarBeam ran into the barrier, a vaporeon who was swaying in its effort to remain standing, because the barrier hadn't been able to take the pressure of the entire attack, and a spectacular rainbow.

"We'll call it a tie," suggested Nate, walking over to his vaporeon.

The blonde nodded, "Sure," and rubbed Cerb behind the ears.

"Did you like the show?" Luke asked, and Kenzie tilted her head.

"What?"

He nodded towards the two trainers, whose pokemon were shaking themselves off, suspiciously looking a whole lot better than they had a minute ago. "It's staged, to get the squirrels motivated."

"...Well now I feel manipulated," Kenzie muttered, replaying the battle in her head.

Bells suddenly tolled out across the campus. A magnified voice projected itself out after they had stopped.

**_"All students are expected to be at their first group meetings by 4:00 PM.  
We would advise you to get acquainted with your buildings, rooms, Residential Advisors, and roommates at this time.  
You will find all the information you need in the text you are about to receive.  
Thank you for your cooperation and we hope you have a wonderful year."_**

Luke traded numbers with Kenzie and then waved goodbye as a couple of his friends appeared, who were eager to get their first team party of the year started.

A text made her pokeGear ring, almost simultaneously with all the other pokeGears that were suddenly going off. No one except the First Years checked it, though; everyone else seemed to know exactly where they were going.

The brunette flipped open her pokeGear, and a holographic blue screen projected itself into the air right above it. She tapped the screen to view her _1 New Message_.

**"** _Full Name: Kenzie Aislinn Garrett._  
_Building: Hamilton-Weiss._  
_RA: Tara M._  
_Room: 213._  
_Roommate: Delilah Sinclair._  
_Group: Blue.  
Team: Unclaimed. _**"**

There was a map file attached to it, which downloaded itself into her map app. When she opened it, a 3D, rotatable model of the entire campus a flickered into existence.

She followed it towards her building, making note of all the other structures along the way. The Mess Hall, that was important. As she looked around, she realized that most of First Years had already banded together, and looked on uncomfortably. Maybe it'd been a bad idea to choose to hang with Luke instead of her future classmates.

"Hey, did you guys catch the match?" she asked, hesitant, when a group of First Years passed by near her.

There was awkward silence as they walked, neither able to leave to diffuse the tension because they were both going in the same direction, but not sure about whether or not to answer someone they considered an outsider. That critical "friend or foe" moment.

Then someone broke the tension by answering with an enthusiastic voice, "It was a great battle. Houndooms are sick."

Which then prompted a heated argument about which pokemon was better.

_Houndooms obviously._

But it was a bit of a surprise when Kenzie looked up to thank whoever had broken the ice. It was the boy with the intense green eyes, whom she'd initially labeled as an asshat who liked to get around. He gave her a friendly smile before going back to flirting all the remotely attractive girls he could find.

_Maybe first impressions aren't always spot on._

A sudden image of a xatu eating rattata forced its way into her head, Enzo's indignant protest of her statement.

_Awww, I bet you have a soft gooey marshmallow center somewhere! _she teased.

The image was replaced by a vivid scene where she was sleeping in her new dorm room and a swarm of larvaesta crawled out from under her bed and ate her face.

_...You're going to hell._

Enzo hummed in agreement.

* * *

**random note of the day;; **isn't it weird how **catch** and **match** look like they rhyme, but when you actually say them out loud, they don't? I mean, the **tch** part does, but not the **a**s.


	4. In Which I Help Harbor a Fugitive

**an;; thanks to darkmoonrise312 for reviewing, i appreciate it.**

**on another note, i'm kind of experimenting with POVs and tenses, so yeah, this one's in first person, present tense.**

* * *

**Six Ways to Sunday**

no seriously. it's an actual saying.

* * *

_You should never underestimate how far a simple gesture of kindness will take you. Then again, you shouldn't overestimate it, either.  
_- Spinda Express fortune cookie variation no. 144

* * *

**[ 3: in which i help harbor a fugitive ]**

"- _and_ ... that's it!" my roommate cheers.

I pull the pillow down farther over my ears. Of course my roommate was the redhead, the grape-lover, miss sunshine and rainbow rapidash herself. She doesn't seem to take the hint and continues to babble on about nothing.

_You know, when she falls asleep, we could put that pillow to better use,_ Enzo suggested hopefully.

_What do you mean _"we"_? _Sitting up, I look for something to glare at and finally settle on the row of nail polish bottles lined up inside an open drawer on Delilah's side of the room, the very project she'd been neurotically working on for the past ten minutes.

"I can't believe that's what you chose to bring," I sigh, looking at my own bag of memoirs. Mostly family pictures, souvenirs, a stuffed eevee toy that Brett had won for me when I was little.

Delilah shrugs and gets up on a chair to start stringing up the lights that she's brought to decorate the room with. She arranges every. single. lightbulb. In my head, she accidentally shocks herself, and her red hair explodes into a ginger afro. In reality, she keeps talking. "Well they said that they'd provide clothes but I didn't think they'd have nail polish, too."

"This one is fluorescent yellow," I tell her warily, leaning on my elbows to get a better look at all of them. "Why would you ever need something that ... _yellow_?"

"What if I catch a bright yellow pokemon? Then they'd match," she says, matter-of-fact.

I consider telling her that she should catch a lot of bright neon-colored pokemon and then keep switching them out whenever she battles someone.

_Challenger in the blue corner is unable to continue due to the seizure-inducing lights. Challenger in the red corner wins by default._

Then I feel guilty for thinking that because Grandpa Johnny is prone to seizures.

To be fair, though, the lights do look nice once they're all strung up, and I grudgingly tell her that.

"They _are_ sparkly, aren't they," Delilah says dreamily, but her tone contradicts her critical frown.

"Al-right then."

She doesn't seem to notice my apprehensive tone and rearranges a lightbulb that moved out of place. Then, as slowly as possible so she doesn't accidentally knock any of the others askew, she gets off the chair.

"So ... we could go for a wa-"

"No don't-!"

"-lk," I finish, confused.

An excited bundle of fur squirms out of Delilah's duffel bag and bounces in circles around her legs, making soft whining yips. She picks it up and sets it in her lap and it blinks up at me with wide blue eyes.

It sniffs my fingers when I hold my hand under its nose. "You, um, you're not allowed to bring pokemon with you," I say stupidly, but I'm already petting the puppy's tiger-striped fur.

It's the first time I've seen her without a smiling. It's kind of weird. "I know, I know. But Maya - that's her name - she's just a baby, she gets anxious when I'm not around, and I didn't know what else to do. If I left her at home my mom might've made her into a fur coat."

If she's anything to go by, I don't doubt that statement.

_Crazy breeds crazy,_ Enzo says sagely.

_Your mom must've been a piece of work then._

"M'sorry, what?" I've seen Delilah's mouth moving the whole time but I don't read lips well.

"Oh. I said, could you please just keep it a secret for now? Just until I figure out what to do," the redhead bargains.

I stammer, "But how did you miss it, it was in big red capital letters."

_Don't do it. Don't sell your soul to the ginger devil with her ginger monster puppy._

Maya chooses that moment to yawn cutely and I know I'm screwed.

_See you in hell,_ Enzo cackles smugly.

"Sure," I sigh in resignation.

Delilah's eyes literally shine. "Oh wonderful! We're going to best friends, we're already keeping each others' secrets!"

I'm back to hiding under the pillow.

**iflinebreakingwereasporti'dbeawinner**

Our group meets in the common room on our floor for our first group meeting. It really isn't anything we don't know, just introductions and ground rules for the dorms and for the academy itself. I don't learn anything from it except that Xandra is a hard name to match with a fruit that starts with the same letter.

Naturally, our RA also emphasizes how we're not allowed to have brought pokemon from home as it "disrupts the learning experience".

It's only at night that we actually see how far they're willing to enforce it.

The first knock scares the crap out of both of us because we're just in the middle of throwing gummy bears up into the air for Maya to catch. The second one has us trying to stuff Maya back into Delilah's duffel bag. On the third one, I open the door, smile, and invite Tara in.

She's a short woman, probably fresh out of college, with long and curly light brown hair and an annoying habit of snapping her gum. Delilah is perched primly on her bed as our RA gives our room a once over, but her knuckles are turning white.

It looks like she's about to leave, but then she takes a long sniff of the air, not unlike the damn growlithe we're illegally harboring, and suddenly she makes a beeline towards the duffel bag.

"Once I check your bag I can give you the all clear," Tara explains.

_Can't you just mess with her head, make her hallucinate or something so she thinks the bag is empty? _I try, resorting to reasoning with Enzo.

_I'm allergic to dogs, _he states, like that has anything to do with anything.

But he's adamantly useless, and so Tara raises an eyebrow at us when she discovers our uninvited plus one. Maya's giving her her best puppy dog eyes and the whole sweet-tail-wagging-thumb-chewing thing package, but Tara isn't buying it.

She fixes both of us with a frosty look. "What part of "not being allowed to bring pokemon from home" was unclear? You know the consequences for breaking that particular rule is expulsion."

Delilah looks helpless, and her eyes are teary like she's about to cry. Tara's holding Maya a little too tightly and the blind growlithe puppy begins to whine and squirm nervously, sniffing for her owner.

No.

Don't do it.

Keep your mouth shut.

"It - she's mine," I blurt out.

What the hell.

I've always had a bit of a hero-complex, which is alright but it has the shittiest timing. Once, when I was seven, I tried to stop a drunk man from shooting his raichu. I'm lucky he was so drunk he forgot to load up his shotgun with bullets. Yeah. That kind of shit timing. My mom hoped I would grow out of it, gain a little impulse control, some sense of self-preservation, or something. Nope.

But Delilah looks at me like I'm a gift sent from Arceus and that gaze is so, so hopeful. For a minute it feels like I've done the right thing. And then I look over at Tara, asshole Tara, and the expression on her face makes me wonder how she hides the snakes that she must have for hair.

"Well. Then it looks like you're going home," she says with finality. "The Headmaster will send a message to your pokeGear with the location of your teleport home and your parents will be notified.

"That's not f-" Delilah exclaims, heat rising to her face as that Medusa-esque look Tara was giving me now becomes directed at her. Then Tara stalks out of the room.

Delilah turns to me with an indiscernible frown. Neither of us say anything for a while. Then, "why'd you say that?"

I groan and fall backwards onto my bed. That's not a question I want to answer right now, especially when I'm confused about it myself, angry that I'm getting expelled instead of her, and exhausted when I try to think of my family's reaction. It's not even the first Arceus-damned day. Shit.

For once the redhead seems to recognize personal boundaries and keeps quiet for the rest of the day.

I play snake on my pokeGear while I wait for the message.

It never comes.

At 11:35 PM, I'm still awake, staring at the holographic screen. Does he expect me to teleport myself home? Maybe, if I were a gardevoir.

My throat feels dry. Delilah's already asleep, and, I hate her for being able to fall asleep so easily after today. I know that I'm the one who spoke up when I didn't have to, but still. Soulless gingers.

Even Enzo knows to leave me alone; he hasn't said a single word in my head and I haven't had any impulses to consume bizarre objects recently so I assume that it means that he's taking a break.

Then my stomach growls.

One of the rules is not to leave your dorm after lights-out, which is 11, but really.

I walk on the balls of my feet. The carpet muffles most of the sound anyways, and I find my way to the common room, where there's a stocked mini-fridge.

"-y not?"

It's Tara's voice. I freeze, about to round the corner. Then, I backpedal and put to use one of my favorite talents, eavesdropping. There's shuffling, then the sound of the couch springs relaxing as someone relieves it of their weight.

"It's none of your business. Just tell her she's been let off with a warning."

That voice is clipped and dismissive, male, and definitely belongs to someone much older than Tara. I want to crane my head around the wall, but I don't know which direction they're facing.

There's a long silence. Then, in an accusing tone, Tara says, "You wouldn't do this for anyone else."

The man doesn't say anything and now I really wish I could see their faces. But I hear footsteps, like he's getting ready to leave, so I flee down the hallway back to my room. He says something, but I don't quite catch it because it's quiet and I'm too far away.

By the time I wake up, the memory kind of feels like a dream, and I remember the vaguest details, like going to get a yogurt, but all the specifics are like sand in a sieve. Tara? Or something?

It doesn't seem important so I accept Delilah's profuse thanks and go to get a yogurt.


End file.
